View source for Christian Rakovsky

{{Short description|Bulgarian-born Soviet diplomat (1873–1941)}}
{{family name hatnote|Georgievich|Rakovsky|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Infobox Prime Minister
| name                = Christian Rakovsky<br />{{nobold|{{native name|bg|Кръстьо Раковски}}<br />{{native name|ru|Христиан Раковский}}}}
| nationality         = [[Bulgarians|Bulgarian]], [[Romanians|Romanian]], [[Russians|Russian]], [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]]
| image               = Christian Rakovsky 1920s.jpg
| imagesize           = 
| caption             = Rakovsky {{circa}} 1920s
| order               = 1st [[List of Prime Ministers of Ukraine|Chairman]] of the [[Council of People's Commissars (Ukraine)|Council of People's Commissars]] of the [[Ukrainian SSR]]
| term_start          = 16 January 1919
| term_end            = 15 July 1923
| vicepresident       = 
| deputy              = 
| predecessor         = [[Georgiy Pyatakov]]
| successor           = [[Vlas Chubar]]
| order2              = 
| ambassador_from2    = Soviet
| country2            = France
| term_start2         = October 1925
| term_end2           = October 1927
| predecessor2        = [[Leonid Krasin]]
| successor2          = [[Valerian Dovgalevsky]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1873|8|13|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Gradets, Sliven Province|Gradets]], [[Ottoman Empire]] <small>(now [[Bulgaria]])</small>
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1941|9|11|1873|8|13|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Oryol]], [[Russian SFSR]], {{nowrap|[[Soviet Union]]}}
| constituency        = 
| party               = [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Russian Communist Party]] (1917–1937)
| otherparty = [[Social Democratic Party of Romania (1910–1918)|Social Democratic Party of Romania]] (1910–1917)
| spouse              = E. P. Ryabova (desc.)<br />Alexandrina Alexandrescu (Ileana Pralea)
| profession          = Physician, journalist
| education           = [[University of Geneva]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marples |first1=David R. |last2=Hurska |first2=Alla |title=Joseph Stalin: A Reference Guide to His Life and Works |date=23 August 2022 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-3361-3 |page=183 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yq97EAAAQBAJ&dq=Christian+Rakovsky+university+of+geneva+medicine&pg=PA183 |language=en}}</ref>
| signature           = Christian Rakovsky Signature.png
| birth_name          = Krastyo Georgiev Stanchev
| death_cause         = [[Execution by firing squad]]
}}

'''Christian Georgiyevich Rakovsky'''{{efn|{{langx|ru|Христиа́н Гео́ргиевич Рако́вский|Khristian Georgiyevich Rakovsky}}<br/>{{langx|bg|Кръстьо Георги́ев Рако́вски}}<br/>{{langx|uk|Христия́н Гео́ргійович Рако́вський|Khrystyian Heorhiiovych Rakovskyi}}}} ({{OldStyleDate|August 13|1873|August 1}} – September 11, 1941), Bulgarian name '''Krastyo Georgiev Rakovski''', born '''Krastyo Georgiev Stanchov''', was a [[Bulgaria]]n-born socialist [[Professional revolutionaries|revolutionary]], a [[Bolshevik]] politician and [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] diplomat and statesman; he was also noted as a journalist, physician, and essayist. Rakovsky's political career took him throughout the [[Balkans]] and into France and [[Imperial Russia]]; for part of his life, he was also a [[Romania]]n citizen.

A lifelong collaborator of [[Leon Trotsky]], he was a prominent activist of the [[Second International]], involved in politics with the [[Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party]], [[Social Democratic Party of Romania (1910-1918)|Romanian Social Democratic Party]], and the [[Russian Social Democratic Labour Party]]. Rakovsky was expelled at different times from various countries as a result of his activities, and, during World War I, became a founding member of the [[Balkan Communist Federation|Revolutionary Balkan Social Democratic Labor Federation]] while helping to organize the [[Zimmerwald Conference]]. Imprisoned by Romanian authorities, he made his way to Russia, where he joined the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Bolshevik Party]] after the [[October Revolution]], and  unsuccessfully attempted to generate a [[communist revolution]] in the [[Kingdom of Romania]]. Subsequently, he was a founding member of the [[Comintern]], served as [[Prime Minister of Ukraine|head of government]] in the [[Ukrainian SSR]], and took part in negotiations at the [[Genoa Conference]].

He came to oppose [[Joseph Stalin]] and rallied with the [[Left Opposition]], being marginalized inside the government and sent as Soviet ambassador to London and Paris, where he was involved in renegotiating financial settlements. He was ultimately recalled from France in autumn 1927, after signing his name to a controversial [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]] platform which endorsed [[world revolution]]. Credited with having developed the Trotskyist critique of [[Stalinism]] as "bureaucratic centrism", Rakovsky was subject to internal exile. Submitting to Stalin's leadership in 1934 and being briefly reinstated, he was nonetheless implicated in the [[Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites"|Trial of the Twenty One]] (part of the [[Moscow Trials]]), imprisoned, and executed by the [[NKVD]] during World War II. He was [[Rehabilitation (Soviet)|rehabilitated]] in 1988, during the Soviet ''[[Glasnost]]'' period.

==Names==
Rakovsky's original [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] name was '''Krastyo Georgiev Stanchev''' (Кръстьо Георгиев Станчев), which he himself changed to ''Krastyo Rakovski'' (Кръстьо Раковски), being a  grandnephew of the Bulgarian national hero [[Georgi Rakovski]]. The usual form his first name took in [[Romanian language|Romanian]] was ''Cristian'' (occasionally rendered as ''Christian''), while his last name was spelled ''Racovski'', ''Racovschi'', or ''Rakovski''. His given name was occasionally rendered as ''Ristache'', an antiquated [[hypocoristic]]—he was known as such to his acquaintance, writer [[Ion Luca Caragiale]].<ref name="cioculescuristache">Cioculescu, pp. 28, 46, 246–248</ref>

In Russian, his full name, including [[Names in Russian Empire, Soviet Union and CIS countries|patronymic]], was ''Khristian Georgievich Rakovsky'' (Христиан Георгиевич Раковский). ''Christian'' (as well as ''Cristian'' and ''Kristian'') is an approximate rendition of ''Krastyo'' (the Bulgarian for "cross"), as used by Rakovsky himself.<ref name="fagansocleader">Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''</ref> In [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], Rakovsky's name is rendered as Християн Георгійович Раковський, and usually [[Romanization of Ukrainian|transliterated]] as ''Khrystyian Heorhiiovych Rakovskyi''.{{cn|date=October 2022}}

During his lifetime, he was also known under the pseudonyms ''H. Insarov'' and ''Grigoriev'', which he used in signing several articles for the Russian-language press.<ref>Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''; Rakovsky, "An Autobiography"; Trotsky, ''Christian Rakovsky et Basile Kolarov''.</ref>

==Biography==

===Revolutionary beginnings===
Christian Rakovsky was born to a wealthy Bulgarian family in [[Gradets, Sliven Province|Gradets]] — near [[Kotel (Bulgaria)|Kotel]] — at the time still part of [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]]-ruled [[Rumelia]].<ref>Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''; Rakovsky ("An Autobiography") stated that his birthplace was Kotel.</ref> He was, on his mother's side, the  grandnephew of [[Georgi Sava Rakovski]], a revolutionary hero of the [[Bulgarian National Revival]];<ref name="autogenerated1">Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''; Rakovsky, "An Autobiography"; Upson Clark</ref> that side of his family also included [[Georgi Mamarchev]], who had fought against the Ottomans in the [[Military history of Imperial Russia|Imperial Russian Army]].<ref name="rakautob">Rakovsky, "An Autobiography"</ref> Rakovsky's father was a merchant who belonged to the [[Democratic Party (Bulgaria)|Democratic Party]].<ref name="rakautob"/>

He later stated that, as early as his childhood years, he had felt a special admiration towards Russia, and that he had been impressed by witnessing, at age 5, the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russo-Turkish War]] and Russian presence (he claimed to have met General [[Eduard Totleben]] during the conflict).<ref name="rakautob"/> 

Although his parents moved to the [[Kingdom of Romania]] in 1880, settling in [[Pecineaga|Gherengic]] ([[Northern Dobruja]]), he completed his education in newly emancipated Bulgaria.<ref name="autogenerated11">Rakovsky, ''An Autobiography''; Upson Clark.</ref> Rakovsky was expelled from the [[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] in [[Gabrovo]] for his political activities (in 1887 and then again, after organizing a riot, in 1890).<ref name="autogenerated1"/> It was around that time that he became a [[Marxism|Marxist]], and began collaborating with the socialist journalist [[Evtim Dabev]], whom he aided in printing works by [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]] (at the time, Rakovsky and Sava Balabanov published their own newspaper, the clandestine ''Zerkalo'').<ref name="autogenerated2">Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''; Rakovsky, "An Autobiography".</ref>

Since, after having ultimately been banned from attending any [[Public school (government funded)|public school]] in the country, he could not complete his education in Bulgaria,<ref>Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''; Rakovsky, "An Autobiography"; Tănase, "Cristian Racovski".</ref> in September 1890, Rakovsky went to [[Geneva]] to begin his studies and become a physician. While in Switzerland, he joined the Socialist Student Circle at the [[University of Geneva]], which was largely composed of non-Swiss youth.<ref name="autogenerated2"/>

A [[Multilingual|polyglot]],<ref name="autogenerated257">Anghel & Iosif, pg. 257; Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''.</ref> Rakovsky became close to [[Georgy Plekhanov]], the founder of Russian Marxism, and his circle, eventually writing a number of articles and a book in Russian. He briefly worked with [[Rosa Luxemburg]], [[Pavel Axelrod]], and [[Vera Zasulich]].<ref name="autogenerated2"/> Unable to attend the First International Congress of Socialist Students in [[Brussels]] (1892), he became involved in organizing the Second Congress, held in Geneva during the fall of 1893.<ref name="fagansocleader"/>

He was a founding editor of the Geneva-based Bulgarian-language magazine ''Sotsial-Demokrat'' and later a major contributor to the Bulgarian Marxist publications ''Den''', ''Rabotnik'', and ''Drugar''.<ref name="autogenerated2"/> At the time, Rakovsky and Balabanov, with Plekhanov's encouragement, stressed the importance for moderation in socialist policies—''Sotsial-Demokrat'' rallied with the [[Bulgarian Social Democratic Union]] and rejected the more radical [[Bulgarian Socialdemocratic Party|Bulgarian Social Democratic Party]]. He soon became involved in distributing socialist propaganda inside Bulgaria, at a time when [[Stefan Stambolov]] organized a crackdown on political opposition.<ref name="fagansocleader"/>

Later in 1893, Rakovsky enrolled in a medical school in Berlin, contributing articles for ''[[Vorwärts]]'' and becoming close to [[Wilhelm Liebknecht]] (the two corresponded regularly for the rest of Liebknecht's life).<ref name="autogenerated2"/> As a Bulgarian delegate to the [[Second International]] Congress in [[Zürich]], he also met with Engels and [[Jules Guesde]].<ref name="fagansocleader"/>

Six months later, he was arrested and expelled from the [[German Empire]] for maintaining close contacts with the Russian revolutionaries there.<ref name="autogenerated1"/> He finished his education in 1894–1896 in [[Zürich]], [[Nancy, France|Nancy]] and [[Montpellier]], where he wrote for ''[[La Jeunesse Socialiste]]'' and ''[[La Petite République]]'', maintaining a friendship with Guesde and becoming an opponent of [[Jean Jaurès]]' [[Reformism|reformist]] views.<ref>Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''; Rakovsky, "An Autobiography"; ''Les socialistes et la guerre''.</ref> 

According to his own testimony, he became active in supporting the [[Greco-Turkish War (1897)|Anti-Ottoman upsurge]] in [[Crete]] and [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]], as well as [[Armenian Revolutionary Federation|Dashnak]] revolutionary activities.<ref name="rakautob"/> In 1896, he was the Bulgarian representative to the Second International's London Congress (part of his speech was published in [[Karl Kautsky]]'s ''[[Die Neue Zeit]]'').<ref name="autogenerated2"/>

===Military service and first stay in Russia===
Although actively involved in many European countries' socialist movements, prior to 1917 Rakovsky's focus remained on the Balkans and especially on his native country and Romania; his activities in support of the international socialist movement led to his expulsion, at different times, from Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, France and Russia.{{cn|date=October 2022}}

In 1897, he published ''Russiya na Istok'' (''Russia in the East''), a book sharply critical of the [[Russian Empire]]'s foreign policy, which, according to Rakovsky, followed one of [[Georgy Plekhanov]]'s guidelines ("Tsarist Russia must be isolated in its foreign relations").<ref name="rakautob"/> On several occasions, he publicly criticized Russia's policies towards Romania and in [[Bessarabia]]<ref>Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''; Frunză, pg. 92; Upson Clark.</ref> (describing Russia's rule over the latter as "[[Autocracy|absolutist]] conquest", "mischievous action", and "abduction").<ref>Rakovsky, in Frunză, pg. 92</ref> According to Rakovsky, "[[Russophilia|Russophile]] papers" in Bulgaria had begun to target him as a consequence.<ref name="rakautob"/>

After completing his education as a physician at the [[University of Montpellier]]<ref name="autogenerated3">Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''; Tănase, "Cristian Racovski".</ref> (with the thesis ''L'Éthiologie du crime et de la dégénérescence'' – "The Cause of Crime and Degeneration", submitted in 1897),<ref name="autogenerated4">Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''; Upson Clark</ref> Rakovsky, who had married the Russian student E. P. Ryabova,<ref name="fagansocleader"/> was summoned to Romania in order to be drafted in the [[Romanian Army]], and served as a [[Combat medic|medic]] in the 9th Cavalry Regiment stationed in [[Constanţa]], [[Dobruja]] (1899–1900).<ref name="autogenerated4"/> He rose to the rank of lieutenant.<ref name="upsonclark">Upson Clark</ref>

Rakovsky subsequently rejoined his wife in [[Saint Petersburg]], where he hoped to settle down and engage in revolutionary activities (he was probably expelled after an initial attempt to enter the country, but was allowed to return).<ref name="upsonclark"/> An adversary of [[Peter Berngardovich Struve]] after the latter moved towards [[market liberalism]],<ref name="rakautob"/> he became acquainted with, among others, [[Nikolay Mikhaylovsky]] and [[Mikhail Tugan-Baranovsky]], while authoring articles for ''[[Nashe Slovo]]'' and helping distribute ''[[Iskra]]''.<ref name="autogenerated1"/> His close relationship with Plekhanov led Rakovsky to a position between the [[Menshevik]] and [[Bolshevik]] factions of the [[Russian Social Democratic Labor Party]], one he kept from 1903 to 1917; the Bolshevik leader [[Vladimir Lenin]] was initially hostile to Rakovsky,<ref name="autogenerated3"/> and at one point wrote to [[Karl Radek]] that "we [the Bolsheviks] do not have the same road as his kind of people".<ref>Lenin, in Tănase, "Cristian Racovski".</ref>

Initially, Rakovsky was expelled from Russia and had to move back to Paris. Returning to the Russian capital in 1900, he remained there until 1902, when his wife's death and the crackdown on socialist groups ordered by [[List of Russian rulers|Emperor]] [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]] forced him to return to France.<ref name="autogenerated2"/> Working for a while as a physician in the village of [[Beaulieu, Haute-Loire]],<ref name="rakautob"/> he asked French officials to review his case for [[French nationality law|naturalization]], but was refused.<ref name="autogenerated4"/>

In 1903, following the death of his father, Rakovsky again lived in Paris, where he followed developments of the [[Russo-Japanese War]] and spoke out against Russia, attracting, according to Rakovsky himself, the criticism of both Plekhanov and [[Jules Guesde]].<ref name="rakautob"/> He voiced his opposition to the concession made by [[Karl Kautsky]] to [[Jean Jaurès]], one which had allowed socialists to join "[[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]]" governments in times of crisis.<ref name="rakguerre">Rakovsky, ''Les socialistes et la guerre''.</ref>

===''România Muncitoare''===
[[File:JosDespotizmul1905 - MagIstIan1975.jpeg|thumb|251x251px|Front page of ''Jos Despotizmul!..'' ("Down with [[Despotism]]!!!"), a special issue of ''[[România Muncitoare]]'', entirely dedicated to criticism of the [[Imperial Russia]]n authorities (February 1905)]]
He ultimately settled in Romania (1904) having inherited his father's [[Estate (land)|estate]] near [[Mangalia]].<ref>Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''; Tănase, "Cristian Racovski"; Upson Clark</ref> In 1913, his property, valued at some 40,000 United States dollars at the time,<ref name="upsonclark"/> was home to [[Leon Trotsky]] when the latter visited the Balkans as a press envoy during the [[Balkan Wars]].<ref name="autogenerated3"/> He was usually present in [[Bucharest]] on a weekly basis, and started an intense activity as a journalist, doctor and lawyer.<ref name="autogenerated4"/> The Balkans correspondent for ''[[L'Humanité]]'',<ref name="fagansocleader"/> he was also personally responsible for reviving ''[[România Muncitoare]]'', the defunct journal of the Romanian socialist group, provoking successful strike actions which brought him to the attention of officials.<ref>''110 ani de social-democraţie'', pg. 13; Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''; Rakovsky, ''An Autobiography''.</ref>

Christian Rakovsky also traveled to Bulgaria, where he eventually sided with the ''[[Bulgarian Communist Party|Tesnyatsi]]'' in their conflict with other socialist groups.<ref>Rakovsky, ''An Autobiography''; Trotsky, ''Christian Rakovsky et Basile Kolarov''.</ref> In 1904, he was present at the [[Second International]]'s Congress in [[Amsterdam]], where he gave a speech celebrating the assassination of Russian police chief [[Vyacheslav von Plehve]] by [[Socialist-Revolutionary Party]] members.<ref name="rakautob"/>

Rakovsky became noted locally especially after 1905, when he organized rallies in support of the [[Russian battleship Potemkin|Battleship Potemkin revolt]] (the events worsened relations between Russia and the [[Kingdom of Romania|Romanian Kingdom]]),<ref>Anghel & Iosif, pg. 257; Tismăneanu, pg. 42</ref> carried out a relief operation for the ''Potemkin'' crew as their ship sought refuge in [[Constanţa]],<ref name="autogenerated257"/> and attempted to persuade them to set sail for [[Batumi]] and aid striking workers there.<ref name="autogenerated2"/> According to his own account, a parallel scandal occurred when an armed Bolshevik ship was captured in Romanian territorial waters; Rakovsky, who indicated that the weapons on board were to be used in Batumi, faced allegations in the Romanian press that he was preparing a [[Dobruja]]n insurrection.<ref name="rakautob"/>

His head was injured during street clashes with [[Romanian Police|police forces]] over the ''Potemkin'' issue;<ref>Anghel & Iosif, pg. 257</ref> while recovering, Rakovsky befriended the Romanian poets [[Ștefan Octavian Iosif]] and [[Dimitrie Anghel]], who were publishing works under a common signature—one of the two authored a sympathetic portrait of the socialist leader, based on his recollections from the early 1900s.<ref>Anghel & Iosif, ''passim''</ref> Throughout these years, Rakovsky, was, according to Iosif and Anghel, "continuously bustling; disappearing and appearing in workers' centers, be it in [[Brăila]], be it in [[Galaţi]], be it in [[Iaşi]], be it anywhere, always preaching with the same undaunted fervor and fanatical conviction his social credo".<ref>Anghel & Iosif, pg. 258</ref>

Rakovsky was drawn into a polemic with the Romanian authorities, facing public accusations that, as a Bulgarian, he lacked patriotism.<ref name="autogenerated4"/> In return, he commented that, if patriotism meant "[[Racism|race prejudice]], international and civil war, political [[tyranny]] and [[Plutocracy|plutocratic]] domination", he refused to be identified with it.<ref>Rakovsky, in Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''; in Upson Clark</ref> Upon the outbreak of [[1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt|Romanian Peasants' Revolt]] of 1907, Rakovsky was especially vocal: he launched accusations at the [[National Liberal Party (Romania, 1875)|National Liberal]] government, arguing that, having profited from the early [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] message of the revolt, it had violently repressed it from the moment peasants began to attack landowners.<ref name="autogenerated2"/> Supportive of the thesis according to which the peasantry had revolutionary importance inside Romanian society and Eastern Europe at large, Rakovsky publicized his perspective in the socialist press (writing articles on the subject for ''România Muncitoare'', ''L'Humanité'', ''[[Avanti! (Italian newspaper)|Avanti!]]'', ''[[Vorwärts]]'' and others).<ref name="fagansocleader"/> 

Rakovsky was also one of the journalists suspected of having greatly exaggerated the overall death toll in their accounts: his estimates speak of over 10,000 peasants killed, whereas the government data counted only 421.<ref>{{in lang|ro}} Ion Bulei, [http://www.zf.ro/ziarul-de-duminica/421-nu-11-000-3047758/ "421, nu 11.000"], in ''[[Ziarul Financiar]]'', 2 February 2007.</ref>

He became close to the influential dramatist [[Ion Luca Caragiale]], who was living in Berlin at the time.<ref name="cioculescuristache"/> Caragiale authored his own virulent critique of the Romanian state and its handling of the revolt, an essay titled ''1907, din primăvară până în toamnă'' ("1907, From Spring to Autumn"), which, in its final version, adopted some of Rakovsky's suggestions.<ref>Cioculescu, pp. 28, 46.</ref>

===1907 expulsion===
After repeatedly condemning repression of the revolt, Rakovsky was, together with other socialists, officially accused of having agitated rebellious sentiment, and consequently expelled from Romanian soil (late 1907).<ref>''110 ani de social-democraţie'', p.14; Anghel & Iosif, pg. 256; Cioculescu, pp. 146-247; Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''; Ornea, pg. 514; Rakovsky, ''An Autobiography''; Tănase, "Cristian Racovski"; Upson Clark.</ref> He received news of this action while already abroad, in [[Stuttgart]] (at the Seventh Congress of the [[Second International]]).<ref>Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''; Ornea, pg. 514</ref> He decided not to recognize it, and contended that his father had settled in [[Northern Dobruja]] before the [[Treaty of Berlin (1878)|Treaty of Berlin]] that had awarded the region to Romania;<ref name="upsonclark"/> the plea was rejected by the [[Court of Appeal]], based on evidence that Rakovsky's father was not in Dobruja before 1880, and that Rakovsky himself used a Bulgarian passport when moving across borders.<ref name="upsonclark"/> During the 1920s, Rakovsky was still viewing the incident as a "blatantly illegal act".<ref name="rakautob"/>

The action itself caused protests from leftist politicians and sympathizers,<ref>Anghel & Iosif, pg. 256; Cioculescu, pg. 247</ref> including, among others, the influential Marxist thinker [[Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea]] (whose appeal in favor of Rakovsky was described by Iosif and Anghel as evidence of "an almost parental love").<ref>Anghel & Iosif, pg. 256</ref> The local socialists organized several rallies in his support, and the return of his citizenship was also backed by [[Take Ionescu]]'s opposition group, the [[Conservative-Democratic Party]].<ref>Ornea, pg. 514</ref> In exile, Rakovsky authored the pamphlet ''Les persécutions politiques en Roumanie'' ("Political Persecutions in Romania") and two books (''La Roumanie des boyars'' – "[[Boyar]] Romania", and ''From the Kingdom of Arbitrariness and Cowardice'' - in Romanian ''Din regimul arbitrarului şi laşităţei (Contribuţiune la Istoria Oligarhiei Române)'').<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

Eventually, he traveled back into Romania in October 1909, only to be arrested upon his transit through [[Brăila County]].<ref>Editor's note in Anghel & Iosif, pg. 256; Cioculescu, pg. 247; Ornea, pg. 514; Rakovsky, ''An Autobiography''.</ref> 

According to his recollections, he was for long left stranded on the border with [[Austria-Hungary]], as officials in the latter country refused to let him pass; the situation had to be settled by negotiations between the two countries.<ref name="rakautob"/> Also according to Rakovsky, the arrest was hidden by the [[Ion I. C. Brătianu]] cabinet until it leaked to the press — this, coupled with rumors that he was about to be killed, and Brătianu's statement that he would "rather destroy [Rakovsky] than let [him] back into Rumania",<ref>Brătianu, in Rakovsky, ''An Autobiography''.</ref> caused a series of important street clashes between his supporters and government forces.<ref name="rakautob"/> On 9 December 1909, a [[Căile Ferate Române|Romanian Railways]] employee named Stoenescu attempted to assassinate Brătianu.<ref>Ornea, pp. 521-522; Rakovsky, ''An Autobiography''.</ref> The event, which was attributed by Rakovsky to support for his return<ref name="rakautob"/> and by other sources to government manipulation,<ref name="ornea521522">Ornea, pp. 521-522</ref> caused a clampdown on ''[[România Muncitoare]]'' (among those socialists arrested and interrogated were [[Gheorghe Cristescu]], [[I. C. Frimu]], and [[Dumitru Marinescu]]).<ref name="ornea521522"/>

Rakovsky secretly returned to Romania in 1911, giving himself up in [[Bucharest]]. According to Rakovsky, he was again expelled, holding a Romanian passport, to [[Istanbul]], where he was swiftly arrested by the [[Young Turks]] government but released soon after.<ref name="rakautob"/> He subsequently left for [[Sofia]], where he established the Bulgarian socialist journal ''[[Napred (Bulgaria)|Napred]]''.<ref name="rakautob"/> Ultimately, the new [[Petre P. Carp]] [[Conservative Party (Romania, 1880-1918)|Conservative]] cabinet agreed to allow his return to Romania, following pressures from the French [[Prime Minister of France|Premier]] [[Georges Clemenceau]] (who answered an appeal by [[Jean Jaurès]]).<ref name="fagansocleader"/> According to Rakovsky, this was also determined by the Conservative change in policies towards the peasantry.<ref name="rakautob"/> He unsuccessfully ran for [[Parliament of Romania|Parliament]] during the [[1911 Romanian general election|elections of that year]] (and several others in succession),<ref name="upsonclark"/> being fully reinstated as a citizen in April 1912.<ref name="rakautob"/> Romanian journalist [[Stelian Tănase]] contends that the expulsion had instilled resentment in Rakovsky;<ref name="tanaserako">Tănase, "Cristian Racovski"</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=September 2016}} earlier, the leading National Liberal politician [[Ion G. Duca]] himself had argued that Rakovsky was developing a "hatred for Romania".<ref>Duca, rendered in Tănase, "Cristian Racovski".</ref>

===PSDR and Zimmerwald Movement===
[[File:Rakovskytrotskygherea.jpg|thumb|179x179px|From left: Rakovsky, [[Leon Trotsky]], and [[Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea]], during a meeting in [[Bucharest]] (1913 drawing)|left]]
Alongside [[Mihai Gheorghiu Bujor]] and Frimu, Rakovsky was one of the founders of the [[Social Democratic Party of Romania (1910-1918)|Romanian Social Democratic Party]] (PSDR), serving as its president.<ref>''110 ani de social-democraţie'', pg. 3</ref> 

In May 1912, he helped organize a mourning session {{clarify|date=October 2022}} for the centennial of Russian rule in Bessarabia, and authored numerous new articles on the matter.<ref name="upsonclark"/> He was afterwards involved in calling for peace during the [[Balkan Wars]];<ref name=autogenerated11 /> notably, Rakovsky expressed criticism of Romania's invasion of Bulgaria during the [[Second Balkan War]], and called on Romanian authorities not to annex [[Southern Dobruja]].<ref name="autogenerated1"/> Alongside Frimu, Bujor, [[Ecaterina Arbore]] and others, he lectured at the PSDR's propaganda school during the short period the latter was in existence (in 1910 and again in 1912–1913).<ref>''110 ani de social-democraţie'', pg. 14.</ref>

In 1913, Rakovsky was married a second time, to Alexandrina Alexandrescu (also known as Ileana Pralea), a socialist militant and intellectual, who taught mathematics in [[Ploieşti]].<ref name="gb425">Brătescu, pg. 425</ref> Alexandrescu was herself a friend of Dobrogeanu-Gherea and an acquaintance of Caragiale.<ref>Valeria Stan, Florian Tănăsescu, Marian Ştefan, "1871–1971. Am iubit şi am admirat pe cel care se chema I. C. Frimu" ("We Have Loved and Admired the One Named I. C. Frimu"), in ''[[Magazin Istoric]]'', October 1971, pg. 6.</ref> She had previously been married to Filip Codreanu, a [[Narodnik]] activist born in Bessarabia, with whom she had a daughter, Elena, and a son, Radu.<ref name="gb425"/>

Rallying with the left wing of international [[social democracy]] during the early stages of World War I, Rakovsky later indicated that he had been purposely informed of the controversial pro-war stance taken by the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]] by the pro-[[Triple Entente|Entente]] [[List of Romanian Foreign Ministers|Romanian Foreign Minister]] [[Emanoil Porumbaru]].<ref name="faganregroup">Fagan, ''Regroupment of the socialist movement''</ref> With staff of the Menshevik paper ''[[Nashe Slovo]]'' (edited by [[Leon Trotsky]]), he was among the most prominent socialist [[Pacifism|pacifists]] of the period.<ref>Fagan, ''Regroupment of the socialist movement''; Trotsky, ''Christian Rakovsky et Basile Kolarov''.</ref> Reflecting his ideological priorities, ''[[România Muncitoare]]'''s title was changed into ''Jos Răsboiul!'' ("Down with war!")—it was later to be known as ''Lupta Zilnică'' (the "Daily combat").<ref name="faganregroup"/>

Heavily critical of the [[French Section of the Workers' International|French Socialist Party]]'s decision to join the [[René Viviani]] cabinet (deeming it "an abdication"), he stressed the responsibility of all European countries in provoking the war,<ref name="rakguerre"/> and adhered to Trotsky's vision of a "Peace without indemnities or annexations" as an alternative to "[[Imperialism|imperialist]] war".<ref name="faganregroup"/> According to Rakovsky, tensions between the French SFIO and the German Social Democrats were reflecting not just context, but major ideological differences.<ref>Rakovsky, ''Les socialistes et la guerre''; Trotsky, ''Christian Rakovsky et Basile Kolarov''.</ref>

Present in Italy in March 1915, he attended the [[Milan]] Congress of the [[Italian Socialist Party]], during which he attempted to persuade it to condemn [[Italia irredenta|irredentist goals]].<ref name="autogenerated5">Rakovsky, "An Autobiography"; Tănase, "Cristian Racovski".</ref> In July, after convening the Bucharest Conference, he and [[Vasil Kolarov]] established the [[Balkan Communist Federation|Revolutionary Balkan Social Democratic Labor Federation]] (comprising the left-leaning socialist parties of Romania, Bulgaria, [[Serbia]] and Greece), and Rakovsky was elected first secretary of its Central Bureau.<ref>Fagan, ''Socialist leader in the Balkans''; ''Regroupment of the socialist movement''; Trotsky, ''Christian Rakovsky et Basile Kolarov''; Rakovsky, ''An Autobiography''.</ref>

Subsequently, together with the Italian Socialist delegates ([[Oddino Morgari]], [[Giacinto Menotti Serrati]], and [[Angelica Balabanoff]] among them), Rakovsky was instrumental in convening the anti-war international socialist [[Zimmerwald Conference]] in September 1915.<ref>Fagan, ''Regroupment of the socialist movement''; Tănase, "Cristian Racovski"; Trotsky, ''Christian Rakovsky et Basile Kolarov''</ref> During the congress, he came into open conflict with Lenin, after the latter voiced the [[Zimmerwald Left]]'s opposition to the resolution (at one point, Rakovsky reportedly lost his temper and grabbed Lenin, causing him to temporarily leave the hall in protest).<ref name="tanaserako"/>{{unreliable source?|date=September 2016}} Later, he continued to mediate between Lenin and the Second International, a situation from which emerged a circular letter that complemented the ''Zimmerwald Manifesto'' while being more radical in tone.<ref name="faganregroup"/> In October 1915, he reportedly did not protest [[Bulgaria during World War I|Bulgaria's entry into the war]]<ref name="upsonclark"/> — this information was contradicted by Trotsky, who also indicated that the ''[[Bulgarian Communist Party|Tesniatsy]]'' had been the target of a government crackdown at that exact moment.<ref>Trotsky, ''Christian Rakovsky et Basile Kolarov''.</ref>
[[File:BASA 156-1-57-1 Christian Rakovsky elections Romania-1918.jpg|thumbnail|Advertising, Parliamentary elections, 1916|256x256px]]
Rakovsky ran for Parliament for a final time during 1916, and again lost when contesting a seat in [[Covurlui County]].<ref>Fagan, ''Regroupment of the socialist movement''; Upson Clark.</ref> Again arrested in 1916, after being accused of planning rebellion during a violent incident in [[Galaţi]], he was, according to his own account, freed by a [[general strike]] which constituted "an outburst of indignation among the workers".<ref name="rakautob"/> Evaluating the situation in Romania, he identified the two main pro-Entente political forces of the moment, the groups led by [[Take Ionescu]] and [[Nicolae Filipescu]], with, respectively, "corruption" and "[[Reactionary|reaction]]".<ref name="rakguerre"/>

Suspicions also rose that he had been contacted by German intelligence, that his 1915 trip to Italy had served German interests,<ref name="tanaserako"/>{{unreliable source?|date=September 2016}} and that he was being subsidized with German money.<ref>Torrey, pp. 23, 25</ref> Rakovsky also drew attention to himself after welcoming to [[Bucharest]] the pro-German maverick socialist [[Alexander Parvus]].<ref name="tanaserako"/>{{unreliable source?|date=September 2016}} His independence was consequently challenged by the [[Interventionism (politics)|interventionist]] paper ''[[Adevărul]]'', a former socialist venue, who called Rakovsky "an adventurer without scruples", and viewed him as employed by Parvus and other German socialists.<ref>Torrey, pg. 25</ref> 

Rakovsky himself alleged that, "under the mask of independence", ''Adevărul'' and its editor [[Constantin Mille]] were in the pay of Take Ionescu.<ref name="rakguerre"/> After Romania's entry into the conflict on the side of the Entente in August 1916, having failed to attend the [[Kienthal Conference]] due to the closure of borders,<ref name="autogenerated6">Fagan, ''Regroupment of the socialist movement''; Rakovsky, ''An Autobiography''.</ref> he was placed under surveillance and ultimately imprisoned in September, based on the belief that he was acting as a German [[Espionage|spy]].<ref>''110 ani de social-democraţie'', pg. 15; Rakovsky, "An Autobiography"; Tănase, "Cristian Racovski".</ref> 

As Bucharest fell to the [[Central Powers]] during the [[Romanian Campaign (World War I)|1916 campaign]], he was taken by Romanian authorities to their refuge in Iaşi.<ref name="autogenerated5"/> Held until after the [[February Revolution]], he was freed by the Russian Army on May 1, 1917, and immediately left for [[Odessa]].<ref>''110 ani de social-democraţie'', pg. 15; Fagan, ''Regroupment of the socialist movement''; Rakovsky, ''An Autobiography''; Tănase, "Cristian Racovski"; Upson Clark.</ref>

===October Revolution===
Rakovsky moved to [[Saint Petersburg|Petrograd]] (the new name of Saint Petersburg) in the spring of 1917.<ref name="faganregroup"/> His anti-war activism almost got him arrested; Rakovsky managed to flee in August, and was present in [[Stockholm]] for the [[Third Zimmerwald Conference]]; he remained there and, with [[Karl Radek]], issued propaganda material in support of the Russian revolutionaries. Present in the [[Proletarian internationalism|internationalist]] faction of the Mensheviks, he joined the [[Bolshevik]]s in December 1917 or early 1918, after the [[October Revolution]]<ref name="autogenerated6"/> (although he was occasionally listed among the [[Old Bolsheviks]]).<ref name="orwell">[[George Orwell]], "Arthur Koestler. Essay". Retrieved 19 July 2007.</ref> Rakovsky later stated that he had friendly relations with the Bolsheviks from early autumn 1917, when, during the attempted [[Coup d'état|putsch]] of [[Lavr Kornilov]], he was hidden by these in [[Sestroretsk]].<ref name="rakautob"/>

{{See also|Repatriation of the representatives of Romania who took refuge in southern Russia (1918)}}
His rise in influence and his approval of [[world revolution]] led him to seek Lenin's support for a Bolshevik government over Romania, at a time when a similar attempt was being made by the Odessa-based ''Romanian Social Democratic Action Committee'', under the guidance of [[Mihai Gheorghiu Bujor]];<ref name="autogenerated5"/> Stelian Tănase claims that during the period, a group of one hundred Russian Bolsheviks had infiltrated [[Iaşi]] with the goal of assassinating [[King of Romania|King]] [[Ferdinand I of Romania|Ferdinand I]] and organizing a coup.<ref name="tanaserako"/>{{unreliable source?|date=September 2016}} Eventually, Lenin decided in favor of a unified project, and called on Bujor and Rakovsky to form a single leadership (which also included the Romanian expatriates [[Alecu Constantinescu]] and [[Ion Dic Dicescu]]).<ref>Fagan, ''Regroupment of the socialist movement''; Tănase, "Cristian Racovski".</ref>

As the coup was under preparation in December 1917, Rakovsky was present on the border and waiting a signal to enter the country.<ref name="autogenerated5"/> When Bolsheviks were arrested and the move was overturned, he was probably responsible for ordering the arrest of Romania's representative to Petrograd, [[Constantin I. Diamandy]], and his entire staff (all of whom were used as [[hostage]]s, pending the release of prisoners taken in Iaşi).<ref name="tanaserako"/>{{unreliable source?|date=September 2016}} Trotsky, who was by then Russia's [[Narkomindel|People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs]] ([[Foreign Minister of Russia|Foreign Minister]]), called on the Romanian government of [[Ion I. C. Brătianu]] to hand in persons captured, indicating that he would otherwise encourage the communist activities of Romanian refugees on Russian soil, and receiving a reply according to which no such arrests had occurred.<ref name="tanaserako"/>{{unreliable source?|date=September 2016}}

As Russia negotiated the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] with Germany, he ordered ''[[Rumcherod]]'' troops to march towards Romania, which was by then giving in to the German advances and preparing to sign its own peace.<ref name="tanaserako"/>{{unreliable source?|date=September 2016}} Initially stalled by a much-criticized temporary [[armistice]] with [[Romanian Army]] leader [[Alexandru Averescu]], Rakovsky ordered a fresh offensive in [[Moldavia]], but had to retreat when the [[Central Powers]], confronted with Trotsky's refusal to accept their version of a Russo-German peace, began their own military operation and occupied Odessa (setting free Romanians who had been imprisoned there).<ref name="tanaserako"/> On 9 March 1918, Rakovsky signed a treaty with Romania regarding the evacuation of troops from Bessarabia, which Stelian Tănase claims allowed for the [[Moldavian Democratic Republic]] to join Romania. In May, Romania conceded to the demands of the Central Powers (''see [[Treaty of Bucharest, 1918]]'').<ref name="tanaserako"/>{{unreliable source?|date=September 2016}}

[[File:Rakovsky Ukraine 1920.jpg|thumb|Christian Rakovsky in Ukraine 1920|225x225px]]
In April–May 1918, he negotiated with the [[Tsentral'na Rada]] of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]], then with the [[Ukrainian State|Hetmanate]] of [[Pavlo Skoropadsky]], as well as with German forces (''see [[Ukraine after the Russian Revolution]]'').<ref name="autogenerated1923">Fagan, ''Soviet Diplomat (1923–7)''; Rakovsky, ''An Autobiography''.</ref> Soon after, Rakovsky left for Austria (where the [[First Austrian Republic|First Republic]] had been proclaimed), being received by [[Foreign Minister of Austria|Foreign Minister]] [[Victor Adler]] (a member of [[Karl Renner]]'s [[Social Democratic Party of Austria]] cabinet). Rakovsky's real goal was to reach Germany and negotiate the situation in Ukraine, but he was expelled upon arrival to that country.<ref name="rakautob"/>

Escorted, together with [[Adolph Joffe]] and [[Nikolai Bukharin]], to the German-aligned [[Belarusian Democratic Republic]], he caught news of the [[German Revolution|collapse of the German Empire]] and was selected as a delegate to the German [[workers' council]]s.<ref name="rakautob"/> He and all other envoys were arrested by German soldiers in [[Kaunas]], and sent to [[Minsk]], then to [[Homyel]], before making their way to Moscow.<ref name="rakautob"/>

===Second Ukrainian government===
{{See also|People's Secretariat}}
After the subsequent Soviet offensive in [[Ukraine]], Lenin appointed Rakovsky as the [[List of Prime Ministers of Ukraine|Chairman of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Workers and Peasants of Ukraine]], replacing [[Georgy Pyatakov]] on 16 January 1919 due to the latter's argument with [[Fyodor Sergeyev]] for excessive interference in Ukrainian affairs. On 29 March 1919, the government was reorganized as the [[Council of People's Commissars (Ukraine)|Soviet of the People's Commissars]].<ref>Fagan, ''Rakovsky and the Ukraine (1919–23)''; Rakovsky, ''An Autobiography''.</ref> According to the British author [[Arthur Ransome]], present in Moscow during early that year, "It had been found that the views of the Pyatakov government were further left than those of its supporters, and so Pyatakov had given way to Rakovsky who was better able to conduct a more moderate policy".<ref name="ransome">[[Arthur Ransome]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20030127131025/http://home.freeuk.com/russica2/books/1919/1919.html ''Russia in 1919'']. Retrieved 19 July 2007.</ref> While in office, Rakovsky ignored the Ukrainian "national question" because of his view on the nationalist movements as a counter-revolutionary force, as Rakovsky believed that national issues were important during the bourgeois era, but that they would lose its importance during the emerging world revolution. He seemed unaware of the dangers of Russian nationalism and chauvinism and claimed that the "danger of Russification under the existing Ukrainian Soviet authority is entirely without foundation", although he changed his stance in the early 1920s<ref name="faganrakukr">Fagan, ''[https://www.marxists.org/archive/rakovsky/biog/biog3.htm#f34 Rakovsky and the Ukraine (1919–23)]''.</ref>

At the time, Rakovsky assessed the situation created by the [[Treaty of Versailles]], and advised his superiors to build warm relations with both [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk|Mustafa Kemal]]'s Turkey and the [[Weimar Republic]], as a camp of countries dissatisfied with policies of the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]].<ref name="fagansovdipl">Fagan, ''Soviet Diplomat (1923–27)''</ref> Rakovsky subscribed to the Bolshevik condemnation of [[Greater Romania]], stance that journalist Victor Frunză considered a revision of his previous views on Bessarabia.<ref>Frunză, pg. 93; Livezeanu, pg. 250; Tismăneanu, pp. 44-45; Upson Clark.</ref> 

During the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]], the Romanian delegation attributed the shortage in supply in Bessarabia and [[Transylvania]] a Bolshevik [[Conspiracy (political)|conspiracy]] centered on Rakovsky;<ref name="livezeanu250">Livezeanu, pg. 250</ref> various French reports of the time gave contradictory assessments (while some credited Rakovsky with direct influence on Soviet foreign policy, others dismissed the notion that Russia had any such projects).<ref name="livezeanu250"/>
[[File:Christian Rakovsky 1923.jpg|left|thumb|Christian Rakovsky 1923, First Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (Prime Minister) of the Ukrainian SSR.|241x241px]]
Rakovsky simultaneously served as Soviet Ukraine's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and a member of the South West Front's Revolutionary Military Council, contributing to the defeat of the [[White movement|White Army]] and Ukrainian nationalists during the [[Russian Civil War]], while theorizing that "Ukraine was a laboratory of [[Proletarian internationalism|internationalism]]" and "a decisive factor in world revolution".<ref name="autogenerated1919">Rakovsky, in Fagan, ''Rakovsky and the Ukraine (1919–23)''.</ref> Rakovsky's presence was also decisive in rallying the dissident [[Borotbists]] to the Bolshevik faction's central bodies—he was subsequently confronted with a degree of Borotbist opposition inside his government.<ref name="faganrakukr"/> According to American politologist [[Jerry F. Hough]], his appointment and policies were evidence of [[Russification]], a program requested by Lenin himself; Rakovsky's view contrasted with that supported by Stalin, who, at the time, was calling for increased [[Ukrainianization]].<ref name="hough">[[Jerry F. Hough]], ''Democratization and Revolution in the USSR, 1985–1991'', [[Brookings Institution|Brookings Institution Press]], Washington, D.C. (1997), pp. 223-224; {{ISBN|978-0-8157-3749-0}}</ref> 

On 13 February 1919, in a session of Kyiv City Council, and later in March of 1919, during the [[Third All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets]], Rakovsky as a head of Ukrainian government stated that "decreeing the [[Ukrainian language]] as a state language is reactionary and unnecessary",<ref>Mirchuk, P. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20141217113633/http://donklass.com/arhiv/histdisk/exlibris/insurgent/narys_oun/soviet.html Outline of the history of OUN]''. Vol.1. Munich-London-New-York: "Ukrayinske vydavnytstvo", 1968.</ref> as there is no need to declare state languages in Soviet republics; according to him, all languages are equal in Soviet Ukraine, and "no decrees are needed to make the language spoken by the vast majority of the population the ''de facto'' dominant language... I must state to you that we had to issue a reprimand to the Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs, who... issued an order that political affairs at the Post and the Telegraph should be conducted exclusively in the Russian language."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://resource.history.org.ua/cgi-bin/eiu/history.exe?&I21DBN=EJRN&P21DBN=EJRN&S21STN=1&S21REF=10&S21FMT=njuu_all&C21COM=S&S21CNR=20&S21P01=0&S21P02=0&S21COLORTERMS=0&S21P03=I=&S21STR=journal/1989/2 | title=Періодичні та серійні видання &#124; Інститут історії України }}</ref>

In March 1919, Rakovsky was a founding member of the [[Comintern]], where he represented the [[Balkan Communist Federation]].<ref name="ransome"/> During those months, when control over the entire Ukraine was made possible by the offensive against [[Directorate of Ukraine|Directorate]] forces, he expressed his support for the [[Dnipropetrovsk|Yekaterinoslav]] wing of the [[Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine|Ukrainian Communist Party]]—following its wishes, he subordinated the Ukrainian Communists to the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Russian Communist Party]] and argued that a separate [[Central Committee]] was "luxury" for such a small grouping.<ref name="autogenerated1919"/>

In summer, as Rakovsky's government briefly lost control of Ukraine, his policies became hotly contested by partisans of Ukrainian autonomy inside the Party, who held a conference in Homyel (one which Rakovsky did not attend). At the Fourth Congress of the Ukrainian Party (March 1920), the leadership of Rakovsky, [[Stanislav Kosior]], and [[Dmitry Manuilsky]] was not reelected.<ref name="faganrakukr"/> Attacks on them caused problems with the Russian Party; as Lenin himself sided with Rakovsky, a delegation comprising Trotsky, [[Lev Kamenev]] and [[Adolph Joffe]] left for [[Kyiv]] to discuss the matter with local leaders. In order to curb the crisis, the Ukrainian Party was subjected to a major purge, during which pro-autonomy opposition was removed from its ranks and the former leaders were reinstated.<ref name="faganrakukr"/>

At the time, Rakovsky and [[Georgy Chicherin]] received harsh criticism from the [[Hungary|Hungarian]] communist leaders [[Béla Kun]], for allegedly refusing aid to the [[Hungarian Soviet Republic]] and thus contributing to its fall.<ref name="debo">Richard Kent Debo, ''Survival and Consolidation: the Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia, 1918–1921'', [[McGill-Queen's University Press]], [[Montreal]], 1992, pg. 117; {{ISBN|978-0-7735-0828-6}}</ref> This appears not to have been true, as Rakovsky reportedly urged Lenin to finance Kun even as the latter faced the intervention of troops from both Romania and [[First Republic of Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovakia]].<ref name="debo"/> 

Lenin wrote back to Kun informing him that the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] was satisfied with the way in which Rakovsky and Chicherin had carried out their mission.<ref name="debo"/>[[File:PBW June 1920.png|thumb|235x235px|[[Polish-Soviet War in 1920|1920 theater of war]]: farthest advances of [[Second Polish Republic|Polish]] and [[Ukrainian People's Republic]] [[Directorate of Ukraine|Directorate]] forces during the [[Kiev offensive (1920)|Kyiv offensive]]]]

===Reinstating of Soviet dominance and international conferences===
After dealing with the common offensive of the Directorate and [[Second Polish Republic|Polish]] forces—the [[Kiev offensive (1920)|Kyiv offensive]] (''see [[Polish-Soviet War in 1920]]'') —  Rakovsky's government took measures regarding [[Collectivization in the Soviet Union|collectivization]]; according to his biographer Gus Fagan, he became himself a proponent of greater Ukrainian autonomy, and advocated both Ukrainization through the complete integration of [[Borotbists]] into Party structures and a slower pace in [[communization]]. He notably came into conflict with the Russian Party after his second executive had its independent Commissariat of Foreign Trade replaced with an office under the control of central authorities.<ref name="faganrakukr"/> He continued to pressure for a measure of independence in Ukrainian economy, and, during the early 1920s, the republic sealed its own trade agreements with other European countries.<ref name="faganrakukr"/>

Rakovsky remained a Romanian citizen for the entire period. In 1921, he was officially summoned to be tried by a [[court-martial]] for "crime against the security of the Romanian state".<ref>Frunză, pg. 93</ref> He was [[Death sentence|sentenced to death]] ''[[trial in absentia|in absentia]]'' (1924). Journalist Victor Frunză claims this move had been prompted by a supposed similar verdict given by a Soviet Court to [[Ion Inculeţ]] (who had led the [[Moldavian Democratic Republic]]'s [[Sfatul Țării|Legislative Assembly]] that voted union with Romania).<ref>Frunză, pg. 95</ref> As the [[Socialist Party of Romania]] delegation ([[Gheorghe Cristescu]], [[Eugen Rozvan]], [[David Fabian]], [[Constantin Popovici (politician)|Constantin Popovici]], [[Ioan Flueraş]], and [[Alexandru Dobrogeanu-Gherea]]) voted to adhere to the Comintern, Rakovsky and [[Grigory Zinoviev]] pressured the group to expel those of its members who supported Greater Romania (including Flueraş and Popovici, as well as [[Iosif Jumanca]] and [[Leon Ghelerter]]).<ref>Tismăneanu, pp. 45-47</ref>
[[File:Ramsay MacDonald Christian Rakovsky 1924.jpg|left|thumb|[[Ramsay MacDonald]], Prime Minister UK and Christian Rakovsky, Head of the Soviet diplomatic delegation.|248x248px]]
In February 1922, he was sent to Berlin in order to negotiate with German officials, and, in March, was part of the official delegation to the [[Genoa Conference]] — under the leadership of [[Georgy Chicherin]].<ref name="autogenerated1923"/> Rakovsky himself was virulently opposed to any stalemate with the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]], and urged his delegation not to abandon policies over promises of deescalation and trade. A leader of the delegation's commissions on [[economic aid]], loans and [[government debt]],<ref name="fagansovdipl"/> he was also charged with renewing contacts with Germany — together with [[Adolph Joffe]], he discussed the matter with the pro-Soviet [[Ago von Maltzan]], and, as Russia failed to reach an agreement with the Allies, managed to obtain from Germany promises of cooperation (''see [[Treaty of Rapallo, 1922]]'').<ref name="fagansovdipl"/> Two years later, when captured by the Bolsheviks, [[Socialist-Revolutionary Party|Eser]] conspirator [[Boris Savinkov]] allegedly confessed that he intended to have both Rakovsky and Chicherin killed in Berlin, as they returned from [[Genoa]].<ref>"Battle for Life", in ''Time'', 8 September 1924.</ref> In November 1922, Rakovsky attended the [[Lausanne Conference of 1922–23|Conference of Lausanne]], where he was confronted with the assassination of his fellow diplomat [[V. V. Vorovsky|Vaslav Vorovsky]] by the ''[[White Emigre|émigré]]'' [[Maurice Conradi]].<ref name="fagansovdipl"/>

As the Soviet Union was being created, Rakovsky became opposed to the new central leadership over the issue of [[self-determination]] for the [[Republics of the Soviet Union|Soviet republics]] and [[Autonomous republics of the Soviet Union|autonomous republics]]. This followed the dispute between, on one side, [[Joseph Stalin]], Zinoviev, Trotsky and Kamenev, and, on the other, the leadership of the [[Georgian SSR]] (''see [[Georgian Affair]]'').<ref name="fagansovdipl"/> At the time, he evidenced a "permanent struggle which the so-called independent and autonomous republics had to carry out to safeguard not only their prerogatives but their very own existence".<ref name="autogenerated1919"/> Arguing in favor of extending the revolution from Ukraine to the [[Balkans]], and indicating his belief that the peasantry was being alienated by [[Proletarian internationalism|internationalist]] messages, Rakovsky cited concerns that [[Centralized government|centralism]] was placing Soviet influence in peril, and called for "carrying out a correct theoretical and practical solution to the national question within the boundaries of the Soviet Union".<ref name="autogenerated1919"/> In November 1922, his proposition of the formation of a [[Soviet of Nationalities]] to double the [[Soviet of the Union]] inside the [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|supreme legislative body]] was opposed by Stalin at first, but later accepted under the pressure of Lenin; his arguments in favor of reducing the number of representatives of [[Russian SFSR]] and barring the total number of envoys from any republic at one fifth of the total were dismissed after being criticized by Stalin.<ref name="faganrakukr"/>

===Trotskyist opposition and ambassadorship===
After Lenin's illness and incapacitation, Rakovsky joined Leon Trotsky's [[Left Opposition]] and came into conflict with Stalin. In one of his last articles as head of the Ukrainian government he dismissed centralism as "the elimination of initiative, of economic, political and administrative independence" and "dead bureaucratic centralization which is synonymous with tyranny"<ref name="fagansovdipl"/> Although declining, his influence in Ukraine was, according to political scientist John P. Willerton, one of Trotsky's main bases of support, alongside sections of the [[Red Army]], a group of [[Komsomol]] leaders, and various officials involved in [[Economy of the Soviet Union|economic planning]].<ref>John P. Willerton, ''Patronage and Politics in the USSR'', [[Cambridge University Press]], [[Cambridge]], 1992, p.28. {{ISBN|978-0-521-39288-4}}</ref> In early July 1923, after being isolated inside the Ukrainian leadership, he was removed from his Ukrainian post, replaced with [[Vlas Chubar]], and sent to London to negotiate a formal recognition of the Soviet regime by the British and French governments.<ref name="fagansovdipl"/> Chubar, an [[Ukrainians|ethnic Ukrainian]], came to represent Stalin's view on nationality issues in the region, officially defined as "nativization".<ref name="hough"/> In London, Rakovsky and his wife were joined by Elena Codreanu, whom they had adopted.<ref name="gb425"/>

In 1924, as the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] [[minority cabinet]] came to power, [[Ramsay MacDonald]] and Rakovsky negotiated ''[[de jure]]'' recognition and agreed on a possible future Anglo-Soviet treaty and a British loan for the Soviet Union.<ref name="autogenerated1923"/> Negotiations were tested by the so-called ''Bankers' Memorandum'', published by ''[[The Times]]'', which demanded that the Soviet Union abandon [[nationalization]]s and return to [[private property]].<ref name="fagansovdipl"/> Eventually, two treaties were signed, allowing for commerce to be normalized between the two countries, and reflecting Rakovsky's views that private complaints of creditors against the Soviet state were to be settled outside the conference.<ref name="fagansovdipl"/> The scandal which erupted when the ''[[Zinoviev Letter]]'' was publicized, rekindling suspicions against the Soviet government and provoking the fall of MacDonald's cabinet, brought an end to all further talks. During and after the incident, Rakovsky repeatedly cited evidence that the ''Letter'' was a forgery.<ref name="fagansovdipl"/>
[[File:Soviet UK negotiations.jpg|left|thumb|On the front: Christian Rakovsky on the left, and [[:en:Yevgeni Preobrazhensky|Yevgeni Preobrazhensky]] in the middle and [[:en:Grigori Sokolnikov|Grigori Sokolnikov]] on the right during Soviet UK negotiations in London. Mar 1924|212x212px]]
In parallel, he had begun negotiations with France's [[Raymond Poincaré]], who aimed for a "solidarity of foreign creditors" in respect to the Soviet state,<ref>Poincaré, in Fagan, ''Soviet Diplomat (1923–7)''</ref> and who agreed to recognize the latter on October 28, 1924.<ref name="autogenerated1923"/> One of his last tasks involved placing Soviet orders for machinery, textiles, and other commodities with British manufacturers: worth 75 million US$ on paper, these failed to attract attention after he announced that the Soviet government did not intend to pay in cash.<ref>"Notes", in ''Time'', July 27, 1925</ref> According to the American magazine ''Time'', Rakovsky also played a hand in motivating Stalin's decision to marginalize Comintern leader Zinoviev, by complaining that the latter's foreign policy was needlessly radical.<ref>"The Little Corporal", in ''Time'', May 18, 1925</ref>

Rakovsky served as the [[List of Ambassadors of Russia to France|Soviet ambassador to France]] between October 1925 and October 1927, replacing [[Leonid Krasin]]. He did not take hold of his office until 50 days after his official appointment, refusing to be received at the [[Élysée Palace]] by [[President of France|French President]] [[Gaston Doumergue]] for as long as the state authorities would not allow ''[[The Internationale]]'' (a revolutionary song which was at the time the Soviet [[national anthem]]) to be played on the occasion.<ref name="timebugle">"Bugle Blast", in ''Time'', December 21, 1925</ref> Doumergeue resisted, and, in the end, Rakovsky was received to the sound of an improvised arrangement of [[Bugle (instrument)|bugles]], the more discreet part of which may have been based on ''The Internationale''.<ref name="timebugle"/> ''Time'' described it as a "deafening blast".<ref name="timebugle"/>

His first task involved renewed negotiations with the cabinet of [[Aristide Briand]] (February 1926), during which he was confronted with the vocal campaign of creditors.<ref name="fagansovdipl"/> Early results achieved in discussions with [[Anatole de Monzie]] were dismissed by the opposition rallied around Poincaré, and, after being revived by the short-lived cabinet of [[Édouard Herriot]], talks ended without any result.<ref>"Faux Pas", in ''Time'', March 22, 1926; Fagan, ''Soviet Diplomat (1923–7)''</ref> Poincaré returned to power, and France remained committed to the [[Locarno Treaties]] (which had isolated the Soviet state on the international stage).<ref name="fagansovdipl"/> Over the following year, Rakovsky continued to attempt a ''[[détente]]'' with France, advertising Soviet concessions and speaking directly to the public.<ref name="fagansovdipl"/>

During the same period, as tensions grew between [[Mexico]] and the Soviet government over the latter's support for a Mexican railway workers' strike, American agents reported that Rakovsky was instructed to threaten to publicize correspondence between former [[President of Mexico|President]] [[Álvaro Obregón]] and Soviet authorities (which had occurred before diplomatic links were established).<ref name="spensermexico">Daniela Spenser, ''Impossible Triangle: Mexico, Soviet Russia, and the United States in the 1920s'', [[Duke University Press]], [[Durham, North Carolina|Durham]], 1999, p.105-106. {{ISBN|978-0-8223-2289-4}}</ref> Since this could endanger Mexico's relations with the United States, President [[Plutarco Elías Calles]] chose to deescalate the conflict.<ref name="spensermexico"/>

[[File:Rappoport, Rakovski, Krassine et Voline 1924, Meurisse.jpg|thumb|239x239px|Rakovsky with [[Leonid Krasin]] and [[Charles Rappoport]], Paris, 1924]]
Together with his second wife, Rakovsky gave full approval to [[Max Eastman]]'s volume ''Since Lenin Died'', which centered on heavy criticism of Soviet realities, and which they reviewed before it was published.<ref>[[Theodore Draper]], ''American Communism and Soviet Russia'', Transaction Publishers, [[New Brunswick, New Jersey|New Brunswick]], 2003, p. 360. {{ISBN|978-0-7658-0531-7}}</ref> He became acquainted with the former [[French Communist Party]] member and anti-[[Stalinism|Stalinist]] journalist [[Boris Souvarine]], as well as with the Romanian writer [[Panait Istrati]], who had observed Rakovsky's career ever since his presence in Romania.<ref name="tanaserenegade">Tănase, "The Renegade Istrati"</ref> He also maintained friendly contacts with [[Marcel Pauker]], a prominent but independent-minded member of the [[Romanian Communist Party]], whose activities were denounced by the Comintern in 1930.<ref name="levypauker">Robert Levy, ''Ana Pauker: The Rise and Fall of a Jewish Communist'', [[University of California Press]], [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]], 2001, p.64-66. {{ISBN|978-0-520-22395-0}}</ref>

Rakovsky was eventually declared a ''[[persona non grata]]'' in France and recalled after signing the ''Declaration of the Opposition'', a [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]] platform deemed unfriendly by the French government (it stressed support for revolutions and [[Mutiny|mutinies]] in all capitalist countries).<ref>"Rakovsky's Recall", in ''Time'', October 17, 1927; Fagan, ''Soviet Diplomat (1923–7)''; Tănase, "The Renegade Istrati"</ref> According to ''Time'', France's decision was tacitly welcomed by Foreign Affairs Commissar [[Georgy Chicherin]], due to Rakovsky's political opinions.<ref name="timesneaked">"Sneaked Away", in ''Time'', October 31, 1927</ref> Rakovsky left without presenting his letter of recall to President Doumergue, although he was scheduled for a meeting at the Élysée.<ref name="timesneaked"/> He was initially scheduled to serve as Ambassador to Japan.<ref name="timesneaked"/> On his trip back to the Soviet state, he was joined by Istrati, who, partly owing to his witnessing of the Rakovsky's downfall, soon became a noted opponent of Stalinism.<ref name="tanaserenegade"/>

===Persecution and internal exile===
In December 1927, Rakovsky and [[Lev Kamenev]] held brief speeches in front of the [[15th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|Soviet Communist Party's Fifteenth Congress]].<ref name="siegelbaum">Lewis H. Siegelbaum, ''Soviet State and Society Between Revolutions, 1918–1929'', [[Cambridge University Press]], [[Cambridge]], 1992, p.189-190. {{ISBN|978-0-521-36987-9}}</ref> The former was interrupted fifty-seven times by his opponents—[[Nikolai Bukharin]], [[Martemyan Ryutin]], and [[Lazar Kaganovich]].<ref name="siegelbaum"/> Although, unlike Rakovsky, Kamenev used the occasion to appeal for reconciliation, he was himself interrupted twenty-four times by the same group.<ref name="siegelbaum"/>
[[File:5 years of Krasnaya Nov Soviet monthly literary magazine.jpg|left|thumb|Five year anniversary of [[Krasnaya Nov|Krasnay Nov]] June 1926;

sitting left to right: [[Georgy Chulkov]], [[Vikenty Veresaev]], Christian Rakovsky, [[Boris Pilnyak]], [[Aleksandr Voronsky]], Petr Oreshin, [[Karl Radek]] and Pavel Sakulin;

standing left to right: Ivan Evdokimov, Vasily Lvov-Rogachevsky, Vyacheslav Polonsky, Fedor Gladkov, [[Mikhail Gerasimov (poet)|Mikhail Gerasimov]], Abram Ėfros and [[Isaac Babel]];
]]
After that moment, although branded "[[enemy of the people]]", Rakovsky was still occasionally allowed to speak in public (notably, together with Kamenev and [[Karl Radek]], to the Moscow [[Komsomol]]), and continued to criticize Stalin's leadership as "bureaucratic socialism" (''see [[Bureaucratic collectivism]]'') and "[[Social fascism theory|social fascism]]".<ref>Fagan, ''Opposition and Exile''; [[Victor Kravchenko (defector)|Victor Kravchenko]], ''I Chose Freedom'', Transaction Publishers, [[Somerset, New Jersey]], 1988, pp. 51-52; {{ISBN|978-0-88738-754-8}}; Tismăneanu, pp. 61-62.</ref> With [[Nikolai Krestinsky]] (who split with the group soon afterwards) and Kamenev, he attempted to organize a substantial opposition, visiting Ukraine for this purpose, hosting public meetings and printing [[manifesto]]s addressed to the workers in [[Kyiv]], [[Kharkiv]], [[Mykolaiv]], [[Odessa]], [[Dnipropetrovsk]], [[Kherson]], and [[Zaporizhzhia]] (he was assisted by, among others, [[Yuriy Kotsiubynsky|Yuri Kotsubinsky]]).<ref name="faganoppexile">Fagan, ''Opposition and Exile''</ref> He was persistently [[Heckler|heckled]] during public appearances, and his supporters were beaten up by the ''[[Militsiya]]''.<ref name="autogenerated7">Fagan, ''Opposition and Exile''; Tănase, "The Renegade Istrati".</ref>

In November 1927, after receiving news that [[Adolph Joffe]] had committed suicide, he assigned Ukrainian campaigning to Voja Vujović, and returned to Moscow.<ref name="autogenerated7"/> Following the defeat of the Left Opposition in November–December 1927, Rakovsky was ousted from the [[Comintern]], the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]], and eventually from the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]].<ref>Fagan, ''Opposition and Exile''; Medvedev, pg. 60; Tănase, "The Renegade Istrati".</ref> He was exiled, first to [[Astrakhan]], [[Saratov]], and then to [[Barnaul]].<ref>Fagan, ''Opposition and Exile''; Tănase, "The Renegade Istrati"; Tismăneanu, pp. 61-62</ref> Shortly before the decision, he commented to his visitor, French writer [[Pierre Naville]]: "The French expelled me from Paris for having signed a declaration of the opposition. Stalin expelled me from the [Foreign Affairs Commissariat]<!-- note that this is not a missing link: the brackets replace the Russian term used in the original translation, for clarity --> for having signed the same declaration. But in both cases they let me keep the jacket".<ref name="autogenerated9">Rakovsky, in Fagan, ''Opposition and Exile''.</ref>

While in Astrakhan, Rakovsky was employed by the Regional [[Economy of the Soviet Union|Planning Committee]] (''Gubplan'').<ref name="faganoppexile"/> He was also active as a writer, starting work on a volume detailing the sources of [[Utopian socialism]] and the thought of [[Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon|Saint-Simon]].<ref>Rakovsky, in Fagan, ''Opposition and Exile''; Tănase, "The Renegade Istrati".</ref> Rakovsky remained involved in Trotskyist politics, was contacted by [[Panait Istrati]] and the [[Greece|Greek]] writer [[Nikos Kazantzakis]],<ref name="tanaserenegade"/> and corresponded with Trotsky (who had himself been exiled to [[Almaty]]).<ref name=autogenerated9 /> Most of his writings were confiscated by the [[State Political Directorate]], but the letter on Soviet "bureaucratism" he addressed to [[Nikolai Valentinov]] survived, and became notorious as a critique of Stalinism (under the title ''"Professional Dangers" of Power'').<ref>Rakovsky, in Fagan, ''Opposition and Exile''; Tismăneanu, pp. 61-62</ref> Mistrusting Stalin's new leftist policies, he foresaw the renewed moves against the Left Opposition (inaugurated by Trotsky's 1929 expulsion).<ref name=autogenerated9 />

As his health deteriorated, he was allowed to move to Saratov upon requests addressed by Krestinsky to Kaganovich, the Secretary of the Central Committee. He was visited by [[Louis Fischer]], who recorded Rakovsky's determination not to submit to Stalin (contrasting his option with those of Radek, [[Yevgeni Preobrazhensky]], [[Alexander Beloborodov]] and [[Ivar Smilga]]).<ref name="faganoppexile"/> 

Instead, Rakovsky incited further resistance to Stalinism, and issued a declaration of the united opposition; following this, he was sent to Barnaul, which he called a "hole in the barren cold ground".<ref name=autogenerated9 /> In another critical letter to the Party leadership (April 1930), he called for, among other things, the restoration of [[civil liberties]], a reduction in the party apparatus, the return of Trotsky, and an end to forced [[Collectivization in the Soviet Union|collectivization]].<ref name="faganoppexile"/>

Little is known of Rakovsky's life between that moment and July 1932, the moment when he was allowed a medical leave.<ref name="faganoppexile"/> Towards the end of the same year, Trotsky was informed that he had attempted to flee the Soviet Union, and, in March 1933, it was announced that he had been deported to [[Sakha Republic|Yakutia]].<ref name="faganoppexile"/> Answering Trotsky's request, the French mathematician and Trotskyist [[Jean Van Heijenoort]], together with his fellow activist [[Pierre Frank]], unsuccessfully called on the influential Soviet author [[Maxim Gorky]] to intervene in favor of Christian Rakovsky, and boarded the ship he was traveling on near [[Istanbul]].<ref name="yedlin">Tova Yedlin, ''Maxim Gorky: A Political Biography'', Praeger/Greenwood, [[Westport, Connecticut|Westport]], 1992, pp. 201-202; {{ISBN|978-0-275-96605-8}}</ref> According to Heijenoort, they only managed to meet Gorky's son, Maxim Peshkov, who reportedly told them that his father was indisposed, but promised to pass on their request. Researcher Tova Yedlin proposed that the problem was caused by Gorky's distress over having recently separated from his mistress [[Moura Budberg]], as well as to the writer's close surveillance by [[State Political Directorate|OGPU]] agents.<ref name="yedlin"/>

===Submission to Stalin and the Show Trial===
Rakovsky was one of the last leading Trotskyists to break with Trotsky and surrender to Stalin. Alarmed by [[Adolf Hitler]]'s rise to power in Germany and under intense pressure from Stalin, he announced his submission to the Party through a telegram he sent ''[[Izvestia]]'' (23 February 1934). While Rakovsky was allowed to return to Moscow,<ref name="faganoppexile"/> Trotsky declared the dissociation statement to be "purely formal".<ref name="autogenerated10">Trotsky, in Fagan, ''Opposition and Exile''.</ref>

Rakovsky formally "admitted his mistakes" in April 1934 (his letter to the ''[[Pravda]]'', titled ''There Should Be No Mercy'', depicted Trotsky and his supporters as "agents of the German [[Gestapo]]").<ref>Medvedev, pg. 169</ref> He was appointed to high office in the Commissariat for Health and allowed to return to Moscow,<ref name="faganoppexile"/> also serving as Soviet ambassador to Japan in 1935.<ref name="autogenerated8">Feofanov & Barry, pg. 22</ref>

Cited in allegations involving the killing of [[Sergey Kirov]], Rakovsky was arrested in autumn 1937, during the [[Great Purge]];<ref name="faganoppexile"/> according to Trotsky, he was forced to wait without food or rest for 18 hours, during which time his house was being searched.<ref name=autogenerated10 />

Shortly thereafter, in March 1938, he was put on trial along with [[Nikolai Bukharin]], [[Alexei Rykov]], [[Genrikh Yagoda]], [[Nikolai Krestinsky]] and other [[Old Bolsheviks]], on charges of conspiring with Trotsky to overthrow Stalin, the third [[Moscow trials|Moscow Show Trial]]—known as the [[Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites"|Trial of the Twenty-One]].<ref>Fagan, ''Opposition and Exile''; Medvedev, pp. 169, 175–176, 186; Tismăneanu, pg. 50, 74.</ref> In his [[forced confession]] to [[Andrey Vyshinsky]], he admitted to all the charges—including having been a spy (for Japan)<ref name=autogenerated8 /> and a landowner.<ref name="faganoppexile"/> He made attempts to point out that his revenue had been used to support socialism, and that he had a grasp of "revolutionary practices", but was attacked by Vyshinsky, who persistently referred to Rakovsky as "a [[counterrevolutionary]]".<ref name="faganoppexile"/> In his final statement, Rakovsky argued: "from my young days I honestly, truthfully and devotedly performed my duty as a soldier of the cause of the emancipation of labor. After this bright period a dark period set in, the period of my criminal deeds".<ref name=autogenerated9 />

Unlike most of his co-defendants, who were immediately executed, he was sentenced to twenty years of hard labor.<ref>Fagan, ''Opposition and Exile''; Medvedev, pg. 178</ref> In 1941, he was in [[Oryol Prison]]. After the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] invasion of the Soviet Union ([[Operation Barbarossa]]), Rakovsky was shot on Stalin's orders outside [[Oryol]]<ref name="faganoppexile"/> — along with [[Olga Kameneva]], [[Maria Spiridonova]], and over 150 other political prisoners in the [[Medvedev Forest massacre]]. This execution was one of the many [[NKVD massacres of prisoners|massacres of prisoners]] committed by the [[NKVD]] in 1941.{{cn|date=October 2022}}

==Legacy and rehabilitation==
Rakovsky's second wife, Alexandrina Alexandrescu, was herself arrested, and is known to have been held in [[Butyrka prison]], where she suffered a series of [[myocardial infarction|heart attacks]].<ref name="faganoppexile"/> His adoptive daughter, Elena Codreanu-Racovski, was expelled from her job as secretary of the Mossoviet Theater, and deported to [[Siberia]].<ref>Brătescu, pp. 425-426</ref> She returned to Moscow in the 1950s, after Stalin's death, and settled in [[Communist Romania]] after 1975, rejoining her brother, the biologist and academic Radu Codreanu.<ref>Brătescu, pg. 426</ref> She later authored a memoir which included recollections of her father (it was published in Romanian as ''De-a lungul şi de-a latul secolului'', "The Length and Breadth of the Century").<ref name="tanaserenegade"/><ref name="gb4267">Brătescu, pp. 426-427</ref> It was compiled from personal notes and dialogs with physician and former communist militant G. Brătescu, who noted that, probably owing to suspicions she had in respect to the Romanian communist regime, Elena Codreanu refused to talk about Rakovsky's trial and her own persecution.<ref name="gb4267"/> Rakovsky's nephew [[Boris Stefanov]], whom he encouraged to join the Romanian socialist movement before World War I, later became a general secretary of the [[Romanian Communist Party]], before being himself purged in 1940.<ref>Ilarion Ţiu,  "Aliatul lui Stalin" ("Stalin's Ally"), in ''[[Jurnalul Naţional]]'', 7 June 2005.</ref>

By 1932, Rakovsky's name was frequently invoked in the heated debate involving [[Panait Istrati]] and his political adversaries. Istrati, having returned to Romania in disillusion over Soviet realities, was initially attacked in the local right-wing newspapers ''[[Curentul]]'' and ''[[Universul]]''; writing for the former, [[Pamfil Şeicaru]] defined Istrati as "the servant of Racovski".<ref>Şeicaru, in Tănase, "The Renegade Istrati".</ref> Having published ''To the Other Flame'', in which he exposed [[Stalinism]], he consequently became the target of intense criticism and allegations from various pro-Soviet writers, led by the Frenchman [[Henri Barbusse]]. During this period, the Romanian communist writer [[Alexandru Sahia]] speculated, among other things, that Istrati had been in the pay of Rakovsky and Trotsky for a sizable part of his life.<ref name="tanaserenegade"/>

Based on his independent opinions and, in part, on his friendship with Rakovsky, [[Marcel Pauker]] was disavowed by the Romanian and Soviet communist parties, and was himself a victim of the [[Great Purge]] in 1938. At various intervals between 1930 and 1952, his wife, the Romanian communist leader [[Ana Pauker]], faced pressures to denounce her husband.<ref name="levypauker"/> She allegedly refused to criticize him for anything other than his association with Rakovsky, and to admit that Marcel Pauker had been guilty of all the charges brought against him.<ref name="levypauker"/>

The Hungarian-born author [[Arthur Koestler]], himself a former communist, based Rubashov, the main character in his 1940 novel, ''[[Darkness at Noon]]'', on victims of the [[Moscow Trials]]; according to [[George Orwell]], Rakovsky's fate was a possible direct influence: "Rubashov might be called Trotsky, Bukharin, Rakovsky or some other relatively civilised figure among the [[Old Bolsheviks]]. If one writes about the Moscow trials one must answer the question, «Why did the accused confess?» and which answer one makes is a political decision. Koestler answers, in effect, «Because these people had been rotted by the Revolution which they served», and in doing so he comes near to claiming that revolutions are of their nature bad".<ref name="orwell"/>

In 1988, during ''[[Glasnost]]'', the Soviet government cleared Rakovsky and his co-defendants of all charges.<ref>Feofanov & Barry, pg. 34; Shapiro</ref> His [[Rehabilitation (Soviet)|rehabilitation]] came in February, coinciding with that of Bukharin, as well as with those of Ukrainian official and former People's Commissar for Agriculture [[Mikhail Alexandrovich Chernov]], former People's Commissar for Foreign Trade [[Arkady Rosengolts]], and other five officials.<ref>Philip Taubman, "50 Years After His Execution, Soviet Panel Clears Bukharin", in ''[[The New York Times]]'', 6 February 1988.</ref> Bukharin, Rakovsky, Rozengolts, and Chernov were posthumously reinstated to the Communist Party on 21 June 1988.<ref>Philip Taubman, "Bukharin Status in Party Restored", in ''[[The New York Times]]'', 10 July 1988.</ref> His works were given ''[[imprimatur]]'', while a favorable biography was published by the [[National Academy of Science of Ukraine|Ukrainian Academy of Sciences]] (late 1988).{{cn|date=October 2022}}


== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== Citations ==
{{reflist|24em}}

==Bibliography==
* [http://www.marxists.org/archive/rakovsky/ Christian Rakovsky Internet Archive] at [[Marxists.org]]:
** Gus Fagan, [http://www.marxists.org/archive/rakovsky/biog/index.htm Biographical Introduction to Christian Rakovsky, ''Selected Writings on Opposition in the USSR 1923–30'' (editor: Gus Fagan), Allison & Busby, London & New York, 1980]; retrieved July 19, 2007
** Christian Rakovsky, [http://www.marxists.org/archive/rakovsky/1926/autobiog/autobiog.htm "An Autobiography", ''Granat'', 1926], translated by Gus Fagan; retrieved July 19, 2007
* {{in lang|ro}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20100601084430/http://www.fisd.ro/PDF/110ani.pdf ''110 ani de social-democraţie în România'' ("110 Years of Social Democracy in Romania")], [[Social Democratic Party (Romania)|Social Democratic Party]], Ovidiu Şincai Social Democratic Institute, [[Bucharest]], July 9, 2003; retrieved July 19, 2007
* G. Brătescu, ''Ce-a fost să fie. Notaţii autobiografice'' ("That Which Was Meant to Be. Autobiographical Notes"), [[Humanitas publishing house|Humanitas]], Bucharest, 2003. {{ISBN|978-973-50-0425-5}}
* [[Şerban Cioculescu]], ''Caragialiana'', Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1974. {{OCLC|6890267}}
* Yuri Feofanov, Donald Barry, [http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/1995-808-02-9-Feofanov.pdf ''Arbitrary Justice: Courts and Politics in Post-Stalin Russia''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705171830/http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/1995-808-02-9-Feofanov.pdf |date=2007-07-05 }}, National Council for Soviet and East European Research and [[Lehigh University]], Washington, D. C., 1995; retrieved July 19, 2007
* Victor Frunză, ''Istoria stalinismului în România'' ("The History of Stalinism in Romania"), Humanitas, Bucharest, 1990. {{ISBN|978-973-28-0177-2}}
* [[Ștefan Octavian Iosif|Șt. O. Iosif]], [[Dimitrie Anghel|D. Anghel]], "Racovski", in ''Cireşul lui Lucullus. Teatru, proză, traduceri'' ("Lucullus' Cherry Tree. Drama, Prose, Translations"), [[Editura Minerva]], Bucharest, 1976. {{OCLC|2598894}}
* [[Irina Livezeanu]], ''Cultural Politics in Greater Romania: Regionalism, Nation Building and Ethnic Struggle, 1918–1930'', [[Cornell University Press]], New York City, 1995. {{ISBN|978-0-8014-8688-3}}
* [[Roy Medvedev]], ''[[Let History Judge]]'', Spokesman Books, [[Nottingham]], 1976. {{ISBN|978-0-85124-150-0}}
* [[Z. Ornea]], ''Viaţa lui C. Stere'' ("The Life of C. Stere"), Vol. I, [[Cartea Românească]], Bucharest, 1989. {{ISBN|978-973-23-0099-2}}
* {{in lang|fr}} Christian Rakovsky, [http://www.marxists.org/francais/rakovsky/works/soc_guerre/reponse.htm ''Les socialistes et la guerre'' ("The Socialists and the War"), 1915], at Marxists.org (French edition); retrieved July 19, 2007
* Judith Shapiro, [https://web.archive.org/web/20010528004031/http://www.revolutionary-history.co.uk/backiss/Vol2/No2/Shapiro.html "The Prophet Returned? A Survey of Recent Works by and about Trotsky in the Soviet Union"], in ''[[Revolutionary History]]'', Vol. 2, No. 2, Summer 1989; retrieved July 19, 2007
* [[Stelian Tănase]],
** {{in lang|ro}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926230225/http://www.magazinistoric.itcnet.ro/?module=displaystory&story_id=650&edition_id=3&format=html "Cristian Racovski" (Part I)], in ''[[Magazin Istoric]]'', April 2004; retrieved July 19, 2007
** [http://www.archipelago.org/vol10-12/tanase.htm "The Renegade Istrati", excerpt from ''Auntie Varvara's Clients''], translated by Alistair Ian Blyth, in ''Archipelago'', Vol.10–12; retrieved July 19, 2007
* [[Vladimir Tismăneanu]], ''Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism'', [[University of California Press]], [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]], 2003, {{ISBN|978-0-520-23747-6}}
* Glenn E. Torrey, "Rumania's Decision to Intervene: Brătianu and the Entente, June–July 1916", in [[Keith Hitchins]] (ed.), ''Romanian Studies. Vol. 2, 1971–1972'', [[Brill Publishers]], Leiden, 1973, p.&nbsp;3–29.  {{ISBN|978-90-04-03639-0}}
* {{in lang|fr}} [[Leon Trotsky]], [http://www.marxists.org/francais/trotsky/oeuvres/1915/10/kolaroff.htm ''Christian Rakovsky et Basile Kolarov'' ("Christian Rakovsky and Vasil Kolarov"), 1915], at Marxists.org (French edition); retrieved July 19, 2007
* [[Charles Upson Clark]], [http://depts.washington.edu/cartah/text_archive/clark/bc_21.shtml ''Bessarabia. Russia and Roumania on the Black Sea'': Chapter XXI, "Rakovsky's Roumanian Career"], at the [[University of Washington]]; retrieved July 19, 2007

==External links==
{{Commons category|Christian Rakovsky}}
* {{in lang|ru}} [http://lib.ru/TROCKIJ/Trotsky.PortretyRev.txt Trotsky's unfinished biography of Rakovsky]
* {{in lang|it}} [http://www.ecn.org/balkan/0009marxismorakovsky.html Panait Istrati's testimonies on Rakovsky]
* {{PM20|FID=pe/014075}}

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[[Category:Bulgarian expatriates in Romania]]
[[Category:Bulgarian Comintern people]]
[[Category:Great Purge victims from Bulgaria]]
[[Category:Case of the Anti-Soviet "Bloc of Rightists and Trotskyites"]]
[[Category:Bulgarian people imprisoned abroad]]
[[Category:Bulgarian people executed by the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Executed Soviet people]]
[[Category:Soviet civilians killed in World War II]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Soviet rehabilitations]]
[[Category:Soviet show trials]]
[[Category:Executed Bulgarian people]]
[[Category:Ukrainian diplomats]]
[[Category:Chairpersons of the Council of Ministers of Ukraine]]
[[Category:Members of the Left Opposition]]
[[Category:Old Bolsheviks]]
[[Category:Soviet interior ministers of Ukraine]]
[[Category:Soviet foreign ministers of Ukraine]]
[[Category:Marxian economists]]
[[Category:Executed communists]]
[[Category:Immigrants to the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:People from the Principality of Bulgaria]]
[[Category:Health professionals killed in wars]]
[[Category:Politicians killed in World War II]]
[[Category:Anti-nationalists]]
[[Category:European Trotskyists]]
[[Category:Executed revolutionaries]]